The Hall of Presidents swarmed with students Wednesday night during the second annual Study Abroad Fair.

More than 18 Colgate off-campus study programs were represented, as well as non-Colgate programs.

The fair is intended to help the 62 percent of students who go abroad before they graduate, the majority with Colgate programs, according to Barbara Gorka, director of international programs.

Growing up in the South, George Hudson often visited the Smoky Mountains, where he developed a passion for hiking.

The English professor's passion has not ebbed.

In fact, it has dovetailed with his keen interest in the effect of landscape on literature and has been of great service as he incorporates walking and hiking excursions in the Colgate off-campus study programs he leads in London and Japan.

Twelve students and two professors will spend three weeks in a remote Ugandan jungle as part of an interdisciplinary extended study course that emphasizes hands-on learning and research involving rare mountain gorillas.

The group, led by geography professor Peter Scull and biology professor Frank Frey, will be working with community leaders in the village of Buhoma and park officials at the adjacent Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest.

The village is a jumping off point for eco-tourism trips into the national park, where tourists can view mountain gorillas that are habituated, or accustomed to human contact.

As Colgate University junior Jeremy Bennett '09 studies in London this semester, he's getting a real-life lesson in personal finances.

Every fish and chips dinner, hostel stay, and souvenir is taking a big bite out of Bennett's wallet. He and thousands of other students studying abroad can blame the weak U.S. dollar, which is making a semester overseas more expensive.